Flame inductor and fire tier arrangement for gas burner-based apparatus

ABSTRACT

An inductor and fire tier arrangement used in a gas burner-based apparatus having an ignition flame generating unit with a flame inductor and gas burner with multiple fire tiers is disclosed. The flame inductor has the tip thereof set suspending above a plate member in one flame hole of one fire tier of the gas burner to detect the presence of the flame and to turn off power supply and shut off the supply of fuel gas when detects no signal.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to a gas burner-based apparatus such as gas range, gas furnace, gas water heater, etc. and more particularly, to an inductor and fire tier arrangement for gas burner-based apparatus, which prevents incomplete combustion of fuel gas at the gas burner.

2. Description of the Related Art

Many technical teachings have been disclosed to automatically turn off power supply and shut off the supply of fuel gas upon shortage of oxygen at the gas burner during burning, preventing the problems of high consumption of fuel gas from incomplete combustion, low thermal efficiency and poisoning of carbon monoxide. In one conventional teaching, a flame inductor is used to detect the burning status of the gas burner and to automatically turn of power supply and shut off the supply of fuel gas upon abnormal burning due to shortage of oxygen (in the following description, to turn off power supply and shut off the supply of fuel gas has the same meaning as apparatus shutdown).

FIG. 1 illustrates the outer appearance of the ignition flame generating unit 40 and gas burner 50 of a gas water heater according to the prior art. According to this design, the ignition flame generating unit 40 comprises a base frame 41, which supports an ignition electrode 42, a flame inductor 43 and a mixing pipe 44. The gas burner 50 comprises 11˜15 pieces of fire tiers 51. Each fire tier 51 has a plurality of flame holes 52.

When turned on the faucet, the electric circuit of the gas water heater is simultaneously turned on. At this time, a small amount of fuel gas is supplied to the mixing pipe 44 and discharged out of the ignition flame nozzle 45 at the top side of the mixing pipe 44. At the same time, the ignition electrode 42 discharges a high voltage to produce sparks that burns the discharged fuel gas, thereby producing an ignition flame. When the flame inductor 43 detected the presence of the ignition flame, the ignition electrode 42 is stopped from discharging a high voltage, and at the same time, the gas supply pipe is opened to supply fuel gas to the gas burner 50, and therefore a relatively bigger amount of fuel gas is discharged out of the flame holes 52 and burned by the ignition flame to produce the desired main flame for heating water.

After the formation of the main flame, the flame inductor 43 keeps detecting the burning status of the gas burner 50 so as to control the operation of the gas water heater subject to the detection result. In order to detect the burning status of the gas burner 50, the tip 46 of the flame inductor 43 must be extended to a place right above the flame holes 52.

Setting the tip 46 of the flame inductor 43 above the flame holes 52 enables the flame inductor 43 to detect the presence of a flame at the gas burner. However, if the flame is floating above the flame holes 52 due to low concentration of oxygen, the flame inductor 43 still detects the presence of the flame, and the gas water heater will keep working, i.e., the flame inductor 43 cannot automatically turn off power supply and shut off the supply of fuel gas during this unstable burning status.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view.

It is the main object of the present invention to provide a flame inductor and fire tier arrangement for gas burner-based apparatus, which detects the presence of the flame and automatically turns off power supply and shuts off the supply of fuel gas when detects no signal.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the inductor and fire tier arrangement is used in a gas burner-based apparatus comprising an ignition flame generating unit having a flame inductor with a tip, and gas burner, which comprises at least one fire tier, each fire tire comprising a plurality of flame holes and partition members between each-two adjacent-flame holes; wherein the tip of the flame inductor set suspending above one partition member between two adjacent flame holes of one fire tier for detecting the presence of a flame.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the inductor and fire tier arrangement further comprises a plate member bridging one partition member between two adjacent flame holes of one fire tier; the tip of the flame inductor set suspending above the plate member for detecting the presence of a flame.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, the plate member can be bridging one flame hole; the tip of the flame inductor set suspending above the plate member for detecting the presence of a flame.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates the outer appearance of an inductor and a gas burner in a gas burner-based apparatus according to the prior art.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the assembly of FIG. 1, showing the relationship between the inductor and the flame upon shortage of oxygen.

FIG. 3 illustrates the outer appearance of an inductor and a gas burner in a gas burner-based apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of the assembly of FIG. 3, showing the relationship between the inductor and the flame upon shortage of oxygen.

FIG. 5 illustrates the outer appearance of an inductor and a gas burner in a gas burner-based apparatus according to an alternate form of the present invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates the outer appearance of an inductor and a gas burner in a gas burner-based apparatus according to another alternate form of the present invention.

FIG. 7 illustrates the outer appearance of an inductor and a gas burner in a gas burner-based apparatus according to still another alternate form of the present invention.

FIG. 8 illustrates the outer appearance of still another alternate form of the present invention.

FIG. 9 illustrates the outer appearance of still another alternate form of the present invention.

FIG. 10 illustrates the outer appearance of still another alternate form of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 3 illustrates the outer appearance of the ignition flame generating unit 10 and gas burner 30 of a gas water heater according to the present invention. The ignition flame generating unit 10 comprises a base frame 11 made by stamping a steel plate material into shape, an ignition electrode 12 and an inductor 13 disposed at the top of the base frame 11, and a mixing pipe 14. The ignition electrode 12 and the inductor 13 are respectively electrically connected to the electronic igniter (not shown) of the gas water heater by a respective electric wire. The mixing pipe 14 has the top end thereof mounted with an ignition flame nozzle 15, which works as a negative electrode for the electronic igniter. The ignition electrode 12 is controlled to discharge a high voltage toward the negative electrode, thereby producing sparks for burning gas mixture at the ignition flame nozzle 15.

The aforesaid gas burner 30 is comprised of 11˜15 pieces of fire tiers 31. Because the fire tiers 31 are shaped like the tail of a fish, they are called “fishtail fire tiers”. Each fire tier 31 comprises a plurality of flame holes 32. A partition member 33 is provided between each two adjacent flame holes 32 of each fire tier 31. The inductor 13 has the tip 16 suspending above one partition member 33 to detect the burning status of the gas burner 30.

When opened the faucet, the gas water heater is started, and a small amount of fuel gas is being discharged out of the ignition flame nozzle 15, and at the same time a high voltage is discharged out of the ignition electrode 12 to produce sparks and to further burn the discharged fuel gas, thereby producing an ignition flame at the ignition flame nozzle 15.

When the inductor 13 induced the presence of the ignition flame, the ignition electrode 12 is stopped from discharging a high voltage, and the gas supply pipe is opened to supply fuel gas to the gas burner 30, thereby causing the ignition flame to burn discharged fuel gas at the gas burner 30, and therefore the desired main flame is produced to heat water. Thereafter, the ignition flame is off, and the inductor 13 detects the presence of the main flame and controls the operation of the gas water heater subject to its detection result.

During normal burning operation of the gas burner 30, the main flame is adhered to the top of the gas burner 30 and detected by the inductor 13. In case an abnormal burning condition occurred due to shortage of oxygen, the main flame will float above the gas burner 30 (see FIG. 4). Because the tip 16 of the inductor 13 is set suspending above one partition member 33 between two flame holes 32, the inductor 13 detects nonexistence of main flame at this time and gives no signal to the electronic igniter, and therefore the gas water heater immediately turns off power supply and shuts off the supply of fuel gas to the gas burner 30, preventing the problems of high consumption of fuel gas from incomplete combustion, low thermal efficiency and poisoning of carbon monoxide.

Further, the gap between the tip 16 of the inductor 13 and the partition member 33 has a great concern with auto shutdown of the gas water heater. For example, if the oxygen concentration is set at 18% as the reference value for auto showdown control, the gas water heater will shut off the supply of fuel gas only after the oxygen concentration has dropped to below 16% if the gap between the tip 16 of the inductor 13 and the partition member 33 is big; on the contrary, the gas water heater will shut off the supply of fuel gas immediately after the oxygen concentration has dropped to below 20% if the gap between the tip 16 of the inductor 13 and the partition member 33 is small.

In order to prevent a false detection of the inductor 13 due to a transient shift of the main flame upon a wind, a delay circuit is provided to delay the action for a predetermined length of time, for example, several seconds. Because a delay circuit for this purpose can easily be obtained from the know techniques, no further detailed description in this regard is ne3cessary.

FIG. 5 shows an alternate form of the gas burner. According to this embodiment, each fire tier 31 a of the gas burner 30 a is shaped like harmonica, and therefore the fire tiers 31 a are called “harmonica fire tiers”. Each fire tier 31 a comprises a plurality of flame holes 32 a and a partition member 33 a between each two adjacent flame holes 32 a. The tip 16 of the inductor 13 is set suspending above one partition member 33 a. This embodiment will also automatically shut off the supply of fuel gas upon incomplete combustion of fuel gas. According to this embodiment, the flame holes 32 a have a relatively greater width. Further, a division plate 34 is fastened to each flame hole 32 a to separate each flame hole 32 a into two small holes. Alternatively, the tip 16 of the inductor 13 can be set suspending above the division plate 34 in one flame hole 32 a, achieving the same effect.

Actually, the invention provides different combinations to prevent incomplete combustion. In one embodiment, a plate member 35 is mounted on the top of one partition member 33 (see FIG. 6), and the tip 16 of the inductor 13 is set suspending above the plate member 35. The plate member 35 can be fixedly fastened to the fire tier 31 by welding. Further, the plate member 35 can be a flat plate, or alternatively a channeled plate as shown in FIG. 6.

FIG. 7 shows the plate member 35 fastened to one fire tier 31 a, bridging one flame hole 32 a.

The width of the plate member 35 determines the time to shut off the supply of fuel gas upon shortage of oxygen. A relatively wider plate member advances the time to shut off the supply of fuel gas; a relatively narrower plate member postpones the time to shut off the supply of fuel gas. Therefore, the time to shut off the supply of fuel gas upon shortage of oxygen is adjustable by changing the width of the plate member 35.

In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 3˜7, the inductor 13 is used to detect the presence of the ignition flame and the main flame. According to the ignition flame generating unit 10 a shown in FIG. 8, the inductor 13 does not detect the burning status of the gas burner. According to this embodiment, the ignition flame generating unit 10 a comprises a base frame 11, an ignition electrode 12, an inductor 13, and a mixing pipe 17. The ignition electrode 12, the inductor 13 and the mixing pipe 17 are fixedly supported on the base frame 11. A fishtail type fire tier 31 is fastened to the top of the mixing pipe 17. The fire tier 31 comprises a plurality of flame holes 32, a partition member 33 between each two adjacent flame holes 32, and a plate member 35 mounted on one partition member 33. The tip 16 of the inductor 13 is set suspending above the plate member 35. The fire tier 31 is same as the fire tiers of the mini gas burner shown in FIG. 3.

The ignition flame generating unit 10 a shown in FIG. 8 is suitable for use in a furnace. When started, fuel gas is discharged out of the flame holes 32 and burned by sparks from discharge of a high voltage through the ignition electrode 12. When the inductor 13 detected the presence of the ignition flame, the ignition electrode 12 is stopped from discharging a high voltage, and the gas supply pipe (not shown) is opened to supply fuel gas to the gas burner (not shown) for burning by the ignition flame to provide the desired main flame. The ignition flame is maintained until shutdown of the furnace, and the inductor 13 keeps detecting the presence of the ignition flame. In case of floating of the ignition flame due to incomplete combustion, the signal from the inductor 13 is interrupted, and the furnace automatically shuts down.

FIG. 9 shows still another alternate form of the ignition flame generating unit 10 b. This embodiment is substantially similar to the embodiment shown in FIG. 8 with the exception of the shape of the fire tier. According to this embodiment, the fire tier 18 is a conical device, having a plurality of flame holes 19 arranged around the border area, and the tip 16 of the inductor 13 is set suspending above one partition portion 20 between two flame holes 19.

FIG. 10 shows still another alternate form of the ignition flame generating unit 10 c. This embodiment is substantially similar to the embodiment shown in FIG. 8 with the exception of the added mixing pipe 14, which is same as that shown in FIG. 3.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 10 is suitable for use in a gas water heater. When opened the faucet, fuel gas is discharged out of the ignition flame nozzle 15, and burned by sparks produced from the discharge of a high voltage from the ignition electrode 12 to produce the desired ignition flame.

When detected the presence of the ignition flame by the inductor 13, the ignition electrode 12 is stopped from discharging a high voltage, and the gas supply pipe is opened to supply fuel gas to the mixing pipe 17 for burning by the ignition flame to produce the desired main flame. The ignition flame is extinguished a short length of time after the presence of the main flame. The inductor 13 detects the presence of the ignition flame and controls the works of the gas water heater subject to its detection result, such works including turning off power supply and fuel gas upon shortage of oxygen during burning.

There are many other alternate forms relating the embodiment shown in FIG. 10. For example, a mini power generator 21 may be installed in the base frame 11 of the ignition flame generating unit 10 c to convert heat energy from the ignition flame into electric energy for the electronic igniter, saving consumption of battery power supply. Because this technique is of the known art and not within the scope of the present invention, no further detailed description in this regard is necessary. To fit the mini power generator, the fire tier 31 a at the top of the mixing pipe 17 is preferably a harmonica type fire tier, similar to the fire tier of the mini gas burner shown in FIG. 5.

It is to be understood that the illustration and reference numbers for the parts shown in FIGS. 3˜7 are applicable to the embodiments shown in FIGS. 8˜10, and like reference numbers indicate like parts.

A prototype of gas burner-based apparatus has been constructed with the features of FIGS. 3˜10. The gas burner-based apparatus functions smoothly to provide all of the features discussed earlier.

Although particular embodiment of the invention have been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, oscillator means may be used to atomize water into a fine spray. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims. 

1. An inductor and fire tier arrangement used in a gas burner-based apparatus comprising an ignition flame generating unit having a flame inductor with a tip, and gas burner, said gas burner comprising at least one fire tier, each said fire tire comprising a plurality of flame holes and partition members between each two adjacent flame holes; wherein said tip of the flame inductor set suspending above one said partition member between two adjacent flame holes of one said fire tier for detecting the presence of a flame.
 2. The inductor and fire tier arrangement as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a plate member provided at a top side of one said partition member between two adjacent flame holes of one said fire tier; said tip of the flame inductor set suspending above said plate member for detecting the presence of a flame.
 3. An inductor and fire tier arrangement used in a gas burner-based apparatus comprising an ignition flame generating unit having a flame inductor with a tip, and gas burner, said gas burner comprising at least one fire tier, each said fire tire comprising a plurality of flame holes and partition members between each two adjacent flame holes; wherein the inductor and fire tier arrangement further comprises a plate member bridging one-said flame hole; said tip of the flame inductor set suspending above one said plate member for detecting the presence of a flame.
 4. An inductor and fire tier arrangement used in a gas burner-based apparatus comprising an ignition flame generating unit having a flame inductor with a tip, and gas burner, said gas burner comprising at least one fire tier, each said fire tire comprising a plurality of flame holes and partition members between each two adjacent flame holes and a division plate set in each of said flame holes to divide each of said flame holes into two small holes; wherein said tip of the flame inductor set suspending above one said division plate in one said flame hole for detecting the presence of a flame. 